Sunday, June 29, 2014

Here are two blisters of Reaper Miniatures Cavemen. These are really nice models with a lot of character. Click for a larger picture.

These figures have a lot of utility. They can be used in nearly any genre to serve as any type of primitive humanoid. I'm not sure what I'll do with these yet, but I can see a few applications. In fact, some prehistoric games might be a nice change of pace. I've had my eye on some of those very nice prehistoric models at Acheson Creations. Maybe it's time for a mastodon hunt!

You can readily see the contents of the blister, as I've got two of every model represented except the female. I wasn't too big of a fan of some of the workmanship shown on the handle of her staff/club thing. It takes away from the primitive feeling of it. Also, since she's so distinctive I only painted one of her. I guess I could convert the extra model's staff and "magic bag" into something else. Not sure it's worth the effort at this point.

So now I'm thinking of expanding my cavemen collection. Copplestone Castings has some nice cavemen as part of their Lost Worlds range that are worth looking at, and I may have to get them now that I've got this idea in my head. Stay tuned!

Friday, June 27, 2014

Got to work this week on the massive pile of 20mm Plastic Soldier Company boxes that are clogging my hobby room. I knocked out a box of the German heavy weapons models. I didn't put together every model in the box. Here's what I've got.

Click the picture for a bigger view.

There were models in this box that I couldn't imagine I'd ever need to have in multiples. Specifically that'd be the 80mm and 120mm mortars. Realistically those sized mortars would be far behind the troops and not on board. Still, Bolt Action puts everything on the table whether it make sense or not (they need to sell models, after all) and I could use them as objective pieces, etc. I just didn't want to make three of each in one sitting.

The models are excellent quality and I have few complaints. My only real gripe is that they give you six panzerschreks, but only enough models to build three teams. Since I didn't plan to build all six panzerschreks nor all mortar teams, I stole a figure from the mortars to fill out my team.

I liked having the panzerfausts and wished there were a few more in the box. Six is a good start but a platoon could potentially have more than just six. At least with a disposable weapon like this you don't necessarily have to show which models have them. These guys came with a good amount of gear. I've no clue if it's historically accurate, but it looks good on these models and fits in with their other infantry figures.

The main thing I wanted out of this set was the MG42 teams. A German army can't have too many of these teams, and again my only complaint is I'd have loved to have more than three. These models look great. A little pose variety would've been nice.

Lastly there were the mortar teams. You already know my thoughts on my need for them. As far as the models go, they are excellent. I'll say the mortar model itself was nicely done and sturdy. So many of these mortars in other sets just lean together and need a gallon of glue to stay in place. These PSC mortars, however, were fitted together cleanly.

So that wraps up German heavy weapons. Now I will jump over to do the US heavy weapons teams before tackling all the vehicles. This turned out to be a far larger project than I was expecting. Still, when it's done I'll have a couple of nice looking platoons with plenty of options.

Saturday, June 21, 2014

Nearly two years after my I confirmed my pledge, Relic Knights Kickstarter has arrived! It came yesterday but I didn't have time to look through the contents of the box until this morning. It has been so long I nearly forgot what I chose.

Click for a larger picture.

This picture shows two starter factions with a bonus choice each, hardback rulebook, tokens, card deck (the game is card-driven; no dice involved), various scenic bases of different sizes, an autographed litho, and a couple of other things I don't yet understand.

The two factions I selected were Cerci Speed Circuit (think anime boobs) and The Noh Empire (think anime demons). I mostly based my choices on the looks of the models. I've no idea how these will play in the game.

This Kickstarter experience has left me with a few questions. As far as the execution of it, I have few complaints. Really it just took twice as long to get my stuff, but that's it. Cool Mini Or Not sent me everything I selected and throughout the delays they sent constant updates on progress. In fact one of the highlights of getting this KS package is I will no longer get email updates.

My real hesitation is that this KS represents my gaming interests from nearly two years ago. I've moved on and am hardly playing minis games anymore. I'm doing mostly boardgames and Magic the Gathering as far as my weekly gaming goes. I do have some miniatures stuff going on, mostly with my Reaper stuff and Bolt Action / WW2 projects. I don't know how much I really want out of Relic Knights at this point. At the time, I thought I'd be playing this 5-6 times a year and would like having the models to paint. Now, it might get to the table at some point, and I'll still paint the models. But I've got so much else in front of it.

So that's my experience with Kickstarter. The delay between "buying" and receiving the items creates the risk that I might move on in my interests by the time I get my stuff. That has been the case with Relic Knights. Still, I think CMON did a great job with this and provided excellent communication throughout, and from that perspective I am satisfied with the experience.

Sunday, June 15, 2014

I completed a platoon of Plastic Soldier Company's Late War US Infantry in 1/72 scale. These models took a little longer than I expected. The paint job came out fine, but these pictures are not the best. My camera is out of batteries so I had to use my iPhone. Since I haven't updated for a while, I decided to post these okay pictures and take better ones later.

I was not as impressed with this box of PSC models as I was with the Germans. The box of US Infantry is stuffed with a series of bad model choices, and I had to buy a second box just to get enough rifles to make a platoon with HQ. That's a rip off compared to the German box.

The US box gives you two poses of six models with SMGs, and one has a walkie talkie radio. I chose to make the radio guy my LT, which means all three NCOs for my squads have identical kneeling poses. That's not too bad, but then you come to the BAR models. You are given twelve BAR models per box. That's just way too many, even for a late war platoon. Then the model choices get even more questionable. You have one unarmed soldier that might be holding a grenade, or might be trying to hold his pee. I can't tell. What good are three weaponless soldiers? Then you get three medics, and 3 two-man radio teams. Overkill. Polish all that off with three casualties.

Why did they fill this box with so much of this extra crap, including six models that are either dead or weaponless? You end up short of actual rifles and therefore must buy another box. It's cheap enough, but I shouldn't need a second box not with all the extra BAR gunners, radio teams, and guys with full bladders. There was space to put the rifles in one box.

Some of the poses are a little strange, but for the most part they're good with lots of firing poses. I didn't realize I had medics until I saw the cross stamped on their helmets. Since they have no bags they only have that one roll of bandages. At first, I thought they were binoculars. Otherwise, the weapons and all the other stuff look great. There are several marksman models with scopes, too. A nice touch for US squads. I know their suspenders are wrong, but I don't care.

One other complaint I had was that these models did not fit together as nicely as the Germans. There are a lot of gaps in these models where the arms join. Also, the flash and mold lines were pretty severe, and I had to choose between leaving the mold lines or filing away details, particularly on the faces and helmets.

So I wasn't as satisfied with these, but it's all done now. I really don't need more. I'll be adding support units like MGs and AT weapons to both US and German platoons. After that, I get to move onto the vehicles.